Dustin Malone
Human male, born LY 858, in Sorret. First Sorreter of the Illuminati. Dustin is well known to be a traditionalist. That is, he holds to the fundamental principle that magic is inseparable from both science and religion. While all Sorreters are aware of this principle, it has become more common for them to concentrate on magic as a thing unto itself, with science and spirituality being given only cursory consideration, at least after graduating to adept status. It is also known that Dustin began his apprenticeship under Coman at age 15, in 873. It was then that he first met another of Coman's apprentices, Durell, who had already been studying under the master for eight years, at that point. While Durell graduated to adept status five years later, Dustin himself didn't become an adept until 885 (three years after Durell became a master-adept). While it could not be said that Dustin and Durell ever became friends, per se, they did have an amicable enough relationship, as fellow apprentices, as well as in the years that followed. Certainly they both shared a similarly disaffected attitude toward Sorreter society, to a certain extent, even if their reasons were different. Also, they had a friend in common, a fellow Sorreter named Merv, who had become an apprentice about halfway through Dustin's own apprenticeship (though they had different masters). Dustin graduated to master-adept status in 890. In 898, during the annual Pilgrimage to Monab, something called The Plan was revealed to all spirit-talkers in attendance, including Durell, Merv, and Dustin. They all seemed to believe in the goals of the Plan, though they may each have had their own reasons. Durell took the lead in gathering allies among Sorreters to support the Plan. And in 899, when the Plan called for gangs to begin forming intervillage alliances, Merv had the idea to assign Sorreters to gangs, to help them stay in touch, via t-mail and translocation. While Merv soon became First Sorreter of one such gang, LandOrder, after moving to Kimrin, Dustin himself was sent to Tonad, where he became chief Sorreter of InterGang's branch in that village, under don Larami. Dustin disliked the fact that choosing different gangs would make continued friendship with Merv impractical, particularly considering how few friends he'd always had, given his difference of opinion with the majority of Sorreter society. Still, he figured it would be best just to accept the situation as it was, and concentrate on doing the best job he could for his don. The important thing was that the part he played in the Coming of the Order helped change the world, and he hoped it would ultimately be a change for the better. In 904, when the surname law was passed, he chose the name "Malone," which was the surname of a character in a Terran book he'd once read. In 912, when Larami decided to secede from InterGang and start her own intervillage gang, the Illuminati, Dustin was among those subordinates who she selected to join her in this endeavor. Much as he had once chosen to support the Plan in an effort to change the world, his former don (now capo) appealed to his desire for change, in convincing him to help her start the new gang. And just as Larami's title was upgraded from don to capo, Dustin's own title was upgraded from chief Sorreter of the Tonad branch of InterGang to First Sorreter of the Illuminati. Category:People